Board Hopefuls Attend Forum

October 16, 1995|By TINA MCCLOUD Daily Press

MATHEWS — About 60 people turned out for a forum featuring candidates for the Mathews Board of Supervisors Thursday night.

The forum was sponsored by the Mathews Education Association and United We Stand - Mathews. The format - written questions submitted to a moderator - allowed even those reluctant to speak in public to question the five people seeking three seats on the board.

Of the 40 written questions submitted, the moderator threw out only two. One asked the candidates to state their religious affiliation and church attended. The other asked all the county natives in the audience to raise their hands.

Here are a few things the candidates had to say:

* Incumbent Dorothy D. Foster got a big laugh and a round of applause when she said that, contrary to rumors, ``I am not too old and senile to run for the Mathews Board of Supervisors.'' At 78, Foster is the oldest member of the current board and has served for eight years.

She defended her conservative stance, saying she is not against education but against raising taxes unnecessarily. ``I'm not tight, but I do not waste money,'' said Foster.

* Incumbent Charles E. Ingram, seeking his second four-year term, said one reason he deserves to be re-elected is because he's more accessible than any of the others. ``They usually hit me right there at the barber shop,'' said Ingram, whose business is at Hudgins.

Ingram said he would like for Mathews to increase tourism and suggested a small steamboat could dock at Williams Wharf and take visitors on tours of area waterways.

* Incumbent Thomas G. Mangrum Sr. said he is proud to have helped the county get on better financial footing. He said that when he was first elected 12 years ago, the county was borrowing money each year to pay bills until tax revenues came in. That no longer occurs, he said.

He said the county must improve sewage treatment service and provide public water around Mathews Court House to encourage business growth.

* Challenger Michael E. Richards was asked to expand on a previous statement that he was not afraid to raise taxes. He said that delaying needed projects just to avoid raising taxes had cost money in the long run. The school construction and renovation project would have cost $2 million less if it had been done one year earlier, he said.

``I ask that you elect someone who will look toward the future,'' he said.

* Challenger C. Gerald Sadler said he would bring to the board the ability to closely scrutinize budgets and projects. He said he was concerned about education and elderly people. ``We should take a good, hard look at our spending practices'' for the schools, he said.

Asked how he would encourage new businesses to come to the county, he said, ``New business is fine as long as it does not knock out the local businesses.''

MATHEWS BOARD CANDIDATES

* Challenger C. Gerald Sadler, 54, is a security officer at Newport News Shipbuilding, a barber and an exterminator.

* Challenger Michael E. Richards, 40, is a veterinarian and coordinator of the Pet Care Forum on America Online.

* Incumbent Thomas G. Mangrum Sr., 69, is the district sales representative for a housing construction firm. He has been on the board for 12 years.

* Incumbent Charles E. Ingram, 64, is a barber and commercial flower grower. He has been on the board for four years.

* Incumbent Dorothy D. Foster, 78, is a semiretired accountant. She has been on the board for eight years.